Homeowner Follows HOA Rules Closely When Landscaping, But Entitled Board Member Reports Them Anyway

I’ve been renting my whole life and would very much like to own my own home one day, but if that means having to deal with an HOA it almost doesn’t seem worth it.

HOA boards seem like they only do it to flex what little power they have in their lives. Telling homeowners what color they can paint their doors or what kind of landscaping they can do makes them feel big. Dealing with that seems like a headache no one would want.

Well, the homeowner in this Reddit post is dealing a particularly entitled HOA board. While doing some landscaping and following every HOA rule to the letter, the board still decided to issue them a citation anyway. They just can’t win.

HOA board member tried to stop me from planting flowers… in my own yard

This spring, I started planting a flower bed along the walkway.

I chose native plants that thrive here without much water, and I kept them neatly within my property line.

A week later, I came home to find a printed notice taped to my door saying my flower bed was non-compliant and needed to be removed.

I checked the HOA rules.

Nowhere did it say anything about planting flowers being prohibited.

In fact, there was a section encouraging “attractive landscaping” as long as it wasn’t invasive or blocking sidewalks.

Mine was neither.

I emailed the HOA president with photos of my yard and a screenshot of the rulebook.

He replied the next day saying the notice shouldn’t have been sent at all, and I could ignore it.

Turns out, the board member who issued it just doesn’t like anything that isn’t grass and shrubs.

I left the flowers, and they’ve already started blooming.

A few neighbors have even asked me for the plant list so they can do something similar.

Now every time the board member walks by, I swear she slows down just to glare at them.

Here’s what Reddit had to say about it.